Septimana
by hopelessmine
Summary: It took them a week to realize that they loved each other. High PriestSniper


_**Septimana**_

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A/N: hello, once again! Happy anniversary, hikari-chan!**

Please, wonderful readers, enjoy!

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The first time she ever saw him was at her cousin's engagement party. He had been an acolyte, and she was merely an inexperienced novice. It was only a glimpse, though. Barely at all. Just a flash of cerulean and gold.

"Rihya!" her mother had called. "Come! I want you to meet someone!"

And so she had slowly trudged up to her mother's side.

"Asvin, dear, this is my… second daughter, Rihya. Rihya, this is Asvin, son of Uncle's friend. Say hello."

She had looked at him with a curious expression. "Hello…"

And he smiled gently, azure eyes twinkling in the bright light overhead. "It's an honor to meet you, Miss Rihya."

Not sure what to do, she had blushed. Seeing the expression, her mother turned quickly to Asvin and smiled sweetly.

"Come, Asvin, darling, I want you to meet my oldest daughter… did I tell you that she is very talented with her spells? And more compatible too..."

"Of course, madam." He had smiled back politely.

Taking his hand, they walked away, but Rihya was almost positive that she had felt Asvin's gaze on her as he left.

And so, that was the first time. It was a Sunday.

* * *

The second time she met him was purely accidental. To her, at least. She had been walking along the streets of Prontera. Being the first time there, she had been quite overwhelmed with the statues, gates, and houses. And the people— there were so many! Jostling, pushing, she felt suffocated, so she quickly ducked into one of the many alleyways to rest. That's where trouble found her.

"Lookie here, fellows… we seemed to have caught ourselves a little mouse."

"A scrawny one, at that." Six men came into view. Most of them rogues.

One of them grinned, lips curling in disgust. "What should we do with a thing like her?"

She had panicked. What should she do? What _could_ she do? She had just turned into an archer the day before. She might as well have called herself a novice still.

And so she had fled into the crowd, and somehow managed to push herself through to the other side. Frantic, and then somewhat lost, she began running down the parallel alley, footsteps getting closer with each second.

"You can't get away, mouse. We're too fast for you.— " the leader had then kissed the ground with an excruciating amount of force. His mates soon followed, yelling in horror.

She had whipped around, and almost crashed into the wall. There he had stood, mace in one hand, the other sweeping his hair out of his eyes, standing on top of the leader's head.

He grinned guiltily.

"Hey."

That was Monday.

* * *

They had found each other in the same guild. But by now, they were three years older. More mature. More composed. Or tried to be.

Gaping at each other, Rihya had tried not to burst into nervous giggles, a habit she could not overcome.

He had smiled. "It's nice to meet up with you again, Rihya." And she had nodded, agreeing. She couldn't take her eyes off his face. He had changed so much over the years.

Not the boy she used to know.

But then, he had led her into polite conversation, every other minute, an awkward silence would appear.

Thankfully, the guild-leader called them to come to the meeting they were holding.

And as they walked over together, Rihya had smiled softly, and looked at the calendar they passed on the way.

Tuesday.

* * *

Their friends had urged them to go to the festival, though both of them declined. And so they were forced to sit on the sidelines, while their friends danced under the soft glow of the moon and the lanterns.

They smiled nervously at each other. After all, this was the second time they had met after they had joined the guild. And they were left alone together.

They once again depended on the usual "how are you doing?" "I'm fine, and you?" to keep their unsteady conversation running.

But then had come the most awkward silence of all. Asvin had pretended to take great interest in the sky, while Rihya had fiddled nervously with her fingers.

After the silence had too much weight to bear, Asvin had turned to Rihya, grinning.

"You want to go walk around?"

And she had consented gratefully.

So while most of the people were dancing, a priest and hunter had walked around the booths, finding meaningless, yet fluent conversation in the little shops around them.

It was also the place where he had won her angel wings. She had protested wildly when he gave it to her, but he only laughed.

"It's alright," he had said, "when would I ever wear this? Besides, think of this as a present for passing your hunter exams."

Indeed, just the other day, she had become a hunter. So after bribes and threats, she accepted it, thanking him profusely. So as they walked back towards the dancing, Rihya, who wore her new gift, was content.

After all, it was the Azure Harvest Festival, happening only once a year. And that year, it just happened to fall on a Wednesday.

* * *

After one long year, their guild finally made it ready to go on their first quest. Rihya and Asvin, along with four other members, were cast as the Sacrificers. She had felt nervous and scared, not confident at all that her abilities were strong enough to support the team.

And as she told him her worries, he had hugged her, assuring that she was thinking nonsense, and that she was one of the best hunters he knew. For some reason, she had felt pride surge through her willowy body, as he praised her.

But then, it was all business, and everyone became silent, scouting through the fields near the ruins of Glastheim, looking for their quarry.

They then had taken a quick break, after a few hours of searching, the sage, Winstanna, having prepared an eat-on-the-way lunch.

Then they had all commented on how disagreeable the weather was the past few days.

"Yes," Veret, their knight, had agreed, "And so I was delighted to find that such fair weather landed today. I have early patrolling on Thursdays, you see."

* * *

It was the first time he had kissed her. But, she had wondered, did it help that she was half-alive?

After searching months, they had finally found their target—a whole herd of nightmares. Taking down one was as hard as it was. She was attacked by four.

Asvin had watched as she was thrown violently into the remaining wall of a destroyed home, denting it. And as she fell forwards onto the ground, thick crimson blood had flowed out of her back and stomach, pooling around her, and unconsciously staining the ground.

He remembered shouting healing spells to her, but to no avail. And in anger and frustration, he had thrust a powerful Lex Aeterna onto the mace, and swung it down with all his strength, causing the Nightmare assailing him to vanish in wisps of fire. And he had somehow defeated all the Nightmares surrounding the hunter's body. He didn't remember how, but then, again, he had become a High Priest.

He had cradled her lukewarm body in his arms, murmuring every healing spell he knew, Sanctuary enfolding them in its gentle glow. And slowly, little by little, she became warmer, yet she wasn't awakening.

Their companions had stood behind them, silent. Then the Creator had knelt down and handed Asvin a potion.

"It'll restore her strength," he had murmured, before standing up again.

Try as they might, somehow, Rihya couldn't seem to swallow the liquid—each precious drop spilling out of the side of her mouth.

And so, as a last resort, Asvin had drunk it, and pressed his lips to hers, feeding the medicine to her.

Rihya remembered that day well. Afterwards, she had demanded weakly, still held in Asvin's arms, how long she had been out and a burden to the team, and what day it was.

He had chuckled.

"Don't worry so much," he had said. "You were out for only ten minutes, and today's a Friday."

* * *

They were sitting outside the gates of Prontera when he had confessed his love to her. Her, eating an apple, had choked on it, causing him to give her several hard whacks on the back.

She didn't even notice the pain. Turning wide-eyed to him, she had given a loud "What?"

And so he had to repeat what he had said, quite an embarrassing thing to do, though he showed no signs of it.

In response, she had stuttered, apple dropped on the ground, forgotten. He then ran a frustrated hand through his neck-length blond-hair. Maybe he had told her too soon.

But then, he was tackled onto the ground, and kissed repeatedly on the cheek. He cracked open an eye and was greeted with large sea-colored eyes.

"You do?" she had questioned, arranging herself into a sitting position on top of him.

Propping himself up on his elbows, he had smiled gently at her.

"Of course."

And somehow, with those two words, their relationship would never be the same.

And neither would that Saturday.

* * *

She brushed her comb through her long flaxen-shaded hair, looking at her reflection in the mirror in front of her.

'What time was it?' she glanced at the clock.

'9:27 already?' she quickly adjusted the angel wings on her head, and grabbed her pack of arrows, stringing it around her.

As she turned to leave, something caught her eye. Walking over, she stopped and smiled fondly. Then rummaging through her pack, she produced a pen and carefully crossed it out. Putting the pen back, she took light-hearted steps towards the door again.

Then, turning off the light, she stole a glance at the date she had just crossed out. Blowing a kiss towards it, Rihya stepped out into the sunlight, door closing after her.

_March 19—Sunday_

_Notes: meet Asvin at south Pront.!_

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23 Sept. 2005**

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A/N: wow! This took me a long time! This is partly a gift to the wonderfully talented hikari-chan as a late anniversary present…! I just made up the storyline, but the love is real!**

**Septimana— "a week" in Latin**

Again, comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Thank you so much!

-hopelessmine!


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